Mining system



N. D. LEVIN MINING SYSTEM Aug. 15, 1939 Filed March 6, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 //VVE/V7'OE.' NlLS D. LEVIN ZSY M ATT'Y Aug. 15, 1939 N. D. LEVIN MINING SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1937 f/Vl/E/VTOQ NlLS D. LEVIN,

N. D. LEVIN MINING SYSTEM Aug. 15, 1939 Filed March 6, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 f/Vl/f/V7OP, NILS D. LEVIN, EY

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Patented Aug. 15, 1939 PATENT OFFlCE MINING SYSTEM Nils D. Levin, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application March 6,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a system of mining and particularly to a system for removing dirt bands or slate from a coal mine vein.

An object of the invention is to provide a system for cutting out and removing dirt bands or slate which overlie a seam of coal or which lie intermediate two seams of clean coal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor and a conveyor system which receive cuttings such as dirt or slate or other cuttings from a mining machine, as the cuttings are produced, and to convey said material to different refuse stacks, the entire system and conveyor operating automatically.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved face conveyor for receiving the cuttings of a kerf-cutting mining machine and to convey said material and discharge it over either end of said conveyor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor system including a central conveyor and two wing conveyors in which automatic means are provided to operate the central conveyor to feed either of the wing conveyors selectively and to operate the selected wing conveyor.

' Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan View showing the system comprising my invention as employed in a coal mine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing one end of the central or face conveyor and the receiving end of one of the wing conveyors;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a detail showing particularly the drive means for the cen tral or face conveyor;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of one of the wing conveyors;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of an end of the central or face conveyor;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a detail view partly in section showing particularly the means for driving one of the wing conveyors from the central or face conveyor; and

5 Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. '7 and showing one of the one-way drive clutches for one of the wing conveyors.

It frequently happens that a seam or vein of coal, particularly bituminous coal, has strata of foreign material which are often called dirt bands or slate bands. The height of such band of foreign material from the mine bottom varies in different veins of coal. My invention embodies a system in which such bands of foreign material may be removed anywhere between the mine bot- 1937, Serial No. 129,446

tom and the mine roof, and conveyed rearwardly from the working face at one side of the mine entry where it may be piled up in gobs.

As shown in Fig. 1, a track-mounted kerf-cutting mining machine l2 travels along the central mine track between rows of mine roof props 49, 49 on opposite sides of the mine entry but spaced from the opposite ribs of the mine entry. The track-mounted mining machine 92 may be of the type shown in the patent to Levin et al. No. .971.8 granted August 23, 1934, for Coal mining apparatus, if the stratum or band of foreign material is at or a short distance above the mine bottom. If the band of foreign material is at a higher elevation, the kerf-cutting mining machine illustrated in the Levin Patent No. 2,021,664, granted November 19, 1935, may be employed. It should be understood, however, that any other suitable type of kerf-cutting mining machine may be employed provided that the kerf-cutter may be adjusted to the elevation of the dirt band and can operate to swing the turntable if on the vertical axis l2 to effect swinging feeding movement of the cutter bar I 4 along an arc concentric with the arcuate working face l3, and provided further that the mining machine can make a rectilinear cut as illustrated by the dotted line H in Fig. 1, and a corresponding withdrawal cut can be made on the opposite side of the mine entry. In other words, the track-mounted mining machine is of such type that it may have traction feed along the central track H to sump in the kerf cutter l4 rectilinearly along the line ii in continuation of the rib 72, then be fed arouately to out out the dirt band by producing a kerf the inner end of which is parallel to the working face i3, and finally by traction feed producing a rectilinear withdrawal out in continuation of the rib l3. Inasmuch as the dirt or slate bands may be at any elevation between the floor and the roof, it is preferable to select a kerf-cutting mining machine in which the kerf cutter may have a wide range of adjustment in elevation.

In the operation of the mining machine I2 to cut a kerf at the proper elevation to remove the dirt or slate band, the machine is adjusted with the cutter bar M in the position illustrated in Fig. l, and the kerf-cutting mechanism is then sumped into the face I3 by operating the truck propelling mechanism of the mining machine along the mine track II at a sumping feeding speed. This is followed by arouate swinging feeding movement of the kerf-cutting mechanism on the vertical axis 12" of the turntable !2' while the truck with the mining machine remains stationary on the mine track H. The rectilinear withdrawal cut is effected at the end of the arcuate feeding movement, by moving the whole mining machine rearwardly along the mine track H at a feeding speed, and toward the right as viewed in Fig. l.

Ordinarily the cutting of a single kerf will be sufficient to remove the entire band of foreign material but in some instances it may be necessary to cut kerfs at two different elevations, for instance above and below a layer or stratum of slate. In such mining machines as those above referred to, endless traveling kerf-cutting chains are mounted for movement around a cutter bar in such a direction as to emerge from the face of the mine vein on the advancing edge of the cutter bar so that the cuttings will be swept from the kerf and permitted to drop downwardly along the face I3 of the mine entry I0.

Positioned directly below the kerf cutter I4 is an arcuate face conveyor I5 which receives the cuttings as they fall from the kerf under the influence of the endless chain cutter. The face conveyor I5 comprises an arcuate trough I6 mounted on a supporting frame H which rests to end, as shown in Fig. 1.

on the mine bottom. On that side of the trough I6 adjacent the Working face I3 is pivoted at I8 a receiving chute plate or apron I8 preferably arranged in a plurality of individual sections end The plurality of individual sections are separately pivoted as shown at I8 in Fig. 6 to that edge of the trough I5 adjacent to the working face I3. The apron plates I8 have arcuate edges in arcuate alinement and conforming to the curvature of the arcuate face I3 so as to make intimate contact therewith. The apron plates I8 thus contacting with the arcuate face I3 are in position to assure that the cuttings from the kerf cutter I4 will be directed to the trough I 5 throughout the various feeding movements of the kerf cutter, including the .rectilinear sumping and withdrawal cuts and the intermediate arcuate feeding cut. The face conveyor I5 is provided with head shafts I 9, I9 at the ends thereof. Discharge may be effected from either end of the conveyor, and therefore the conveyor has a discharge head at each end. As the construction of each of the discharge heads of the face conveyor I5 is similar, a description of one will apply to both. Each of said head shafts I9 is provided with a central sprocket 20, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and each head shaft I9 is mounted upon the frame I! in suitable journal bearings 2|, 2!. By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the axes of the head shafts I9, I9 are fixed relative to the arcuate conveyor trough and converge toward the center of the arcs along which the edges of the trough I6 extend. In other words, the axes of the head shafts I9 are radial relative to the curvature of the trough I6. Between the two sprockets 20, 20 extends a continuous double-jointed conveyor chain 22, the links of which are articulated on pivots the axes of which are at right angles to each other. The upper and lower runs of the chain. 22 are guided and supported by the bottom' of the trough I6 and the guide members 23, 23 which are secured to the upper and lower sides of the bottom of the trough I5, as shown in Fig. 6. The upper pair of guide members 23 and the lower pair of guide members 23 have oppositely faced guide grooves into which extend in a re-entrant manner the outwardly extending trough engaging flanges carried by some of or all of the links which have vertical pivots. The guide members 23 above and below the trough bottom I6 are arcuate, as shown in Fig. 1, and concentric with the curvature of the inner and outer walls of the conveyor trough IS.

The arcuate guide members 23, 23 guide the conveyor chain 22 along the center of the trough I6 during the upper run, and the under arcuate guide members 23 retain the chain 22 in close proximity to the underside of the conveyor trough I6. In fact, the oppositely facing grooves in the guide members 23 co-operate with the trough engaging flanges of the chain to afford an interlocking connection between the chain and the conveyor bottom both on its upper side and on its lower side.

Laterally extending scraper conveyor flights 24 are connected to certain links at intervals, as shown in Fig. 1. The flights 23 are in fact scraper flights and are held in scraping positions relative to the bottom of the conveyor trough It by the interlocking connection between the chain and the guide members 23, 23. It will thus be seen that the interlocking connection between the chain 22 and the guide members 23, 23 on the upper side of the conveyor trough bottom retains the flights in position to scrape along the bottom of the trough I6, and on the underside of the conveyor trough such interlocking connection keeps the conveyor chain together with its flights from sagging.

Midway between the ends. of the conveyor I5 and associated with the lower run of the chain 22, I provide three shafts 25, 26 and 21, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The shafts 25 and 21 have stationary axes converging toward the center of the arc of curvature of the trough I6. These shafts 25 and 2'! are journaled in bearings. 28, 28 and 29, 29, respectively, to the frame H. The shaft 25 is also radially arranged relative to the center of the arc of curvature of the trough I5,

and is arranged for vertical adjustment by being journaled to the journal bearing boxes 3|], 30 which are slidable vertically in the guides 3I, as shown in Fig. 3. Vertical screw adjusting mechanism comprising the vertical screw-threaded rods 32, 32, is provided in association withthe boxes 30, 3G and guides 3|, to adjust the tension in the chain 22.

As clearly illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 6, the shafts 25, 26 and 2'! are provided with central sprockets 33, 34 and 35, respectively, about which the lower run of the chain 22 is reeved. The central shaft 25 constitutes the drive shaft for the chain 22 since it carries at that end remote from the coal face, a sprocket 35 which is connected by a sprocket chain 38 to a sprocket on the shaft of the reversible electric motor 31. This is shown in Fig. 2 and diagrammatically in Fig. 3. Obviously by driving the electric motor 31 in reverse directions, the direction of travel of the endless flight conveyor may be reversed, depending upon whether the cuttings from the kerfs are to be discharged from one end of the arcuate conveyor trough I5 or the other end.

Adjacent each of the head shafts located inwardly thereof, I provide a guide and drive shaft 33 journaled in the frame I! by means of appropriate journal bearings 40, 45. The shaft 39 carries a central sprocket I4I as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. By referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that the sprocket I II is in position to guide the chain 22 accurately to and between the guide members 23, 23 on the underside of the conveyor trough bottom. It should be understood that the central sprocket MI is located at both ends of the conveyor so that the conveyor chain will be directed into the receiving ends of the guide members 23 at both ends of the conveyor trough. In a similar manner the sprockets 33 and 35 are arranged, as shown in Fig. 3, to guide the chain. accurately I9 andv into the receiving ends of the guide members 23 which are interrupted adjacent the driving mechanism illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 3.

The shafts 39 also comprise means at both ends of the conveyor for operating rib conveyors 4|, 4| which extend along the ribs 12 and I3 to gob piles between the mine roof props 49, 49 and the ribs 12 and 13. The rib conveyors 4| and 4| are similar except that one is righthanded and the other is left-handed, and they are connected to the arcuate conveyor to be selectively driven from either end thereof.

The rib conveyor 4| comprises a frame 42 which forms a trough within which a continuous belt 43 travels over a head pulley 45 and a tail pulley 44. The tail pulley 44 is preferably adjustable for the purpose of varying the tension of the belt 43. The upper run of the belt 43 is supported upon a plate 46, and the lower run is supported upon the idler rollers 41, 41, as shown in Fig. 4.

The receiving end of the conveyor frame 42 is provided with a hopper 48 adapted to guide material to the belt 43 by which it will be conveyed rearwardly and discharged over the tail pulley 44. The discharge end of the conveyor 4| is preferably elevated and supported by one of the roof props 49. By means of a rib wall jack 50 having one end U-shaped to embrace the roof prop 49 and the other end provided with an adjustable anchorage, a horizontal support at adjusted elevation may be provided for the underside of the conveyor 4| near its discharge end, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.

It should be particularly noted that the foreign material, such as dirt or slate cut out by means of the kerf cutter l4 from the dirt band in the mine vein, is delivered into the space between the rib "i2 and the roof props 49, 49, and as the mining operations are extended, continuous gobs are formed at the ribs back of the roof props, where they may be left indefinitely, especially if the mining operations are performed to extend an entry. I I

To drive the pulley 45 at the receiving end of the conveyor 4| and thereby effect the driving of the belt 43, the shaft 5| of the pulley 45 is provided with a sprocket which meshes with a chain 53 and the latter in turn meshes with a sprocket on the transverse shaft 52. The shaft 52 carries at that end remote from the rib 13 a bevel gear 54 which meshes with a bevel gear 55 mounted upon a shaft 56 carried upon appropriate journal bearings in a bracket 5'! rigidly attached to the frame 42. The shaft 56 also carries a sprocket 58 with which a chain 59 meshes. The chain 59 also meshes with a sprocket 60 associated with the shaft 39 of the face conveyor l5.

It should be noted that whenever the conveyor 22 of the face conveyor I5 is operated by the motor 31, both of the shafts 39 at opposite ends of the conveyor will be rotated. It is preferable that only the rib conveyor to which material is delivered, be operated when the conveyor I5 is driven, and that the other rib conveyor which is not receiving material, remain idle. Provision has therefore been made, as shown in the drawings, to operate the rib conveyors alternately and automatically, dependent upon the direction of movement of the arcuate conveyor l5. That is to say, when the chain 22 is driven in a direction to effect feeding of cuttings to the rib conveyor 4 i the latter shall be operated while the conveyor 4| remains idle, and when material is delivered to the conveyor 4| the conveyor 4| shall remain idle, and that the proper driving connections may be automatically established when the face conveyor I5 is reversed.

As above explained, reversal of the direction of movement of the chain 22 may be effected by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor 3l.

To provide for the automatic operation of the rib conveyors in accordance with the delivery of cuttings thereto, I provide between the shafts 39 and the sprocket 69 automatic clutches 6|, as shown in Figs. 2 and '7. The clutches 6| are reversely connected between the shafts 39 and the sprocket 69 so that only one of these clutches will come into operation to drive the sprocket 63 when the arcuate conveyor is moved in one direction, and the other clutch will come into operation when the arcuate conveyor is driven in the opposite direction.

By referring to Figs. 2 and 5 it will be seen that when the arcuate flight conveyor delivers cuttings to the conveyor 4| the shaft l9 rotates in an anti-clockwise direction while the shaft 39 rotates in a clockwise direction. Now by referring to Figs. 7 and 8 it will be seen that such clockwise rotation of the shaft 39 will effect operation of the automatic ball clutch to transmit rotation from the shaft 39 to the sprocket 66 and thus effect operation of the conveyor 4|. At the opposite end of the arcuate conveyor l5 the clutch corresponding to that shown in Figs. 7 and 8, will be released. When, however, the conveyor l5 delivers material to the rib conveyor 4|, the latter will be driven and the clutch shown in Figs. 7 and 8 will be reversed so that theconveyor 4| will remain idle.

, The detailed construction of the one-way clutch 6| is illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8 of the drawings. Each of the clutches 6| comprises a hub 62 keyed to the shaft 39. The hub 62 is provided with a plurality of notches 63 having therein rollers 64, as shown in Fig. 8 which is a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 loo-king in the direction of the arrows. Surrounding the hub 62 is a casing 65 rigidly attached to the sprocket 66 by means of machine screws 66. The casing 65 has an open face Whichis closed by a plate 61 rigidly attached thereto by the screws 68. The casing 65 is loosely journaled upon the hub 62 and is held in place by a plate 69 and a screw 19, the latter of which threads into the shaft 39. By referring to Fig. 8 it will be seen that if the shaft 39 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the rollers 64 will effect a wedging action between the notches 63 and the interior surface of the casing 65. Consequently the clutch 6| will become effectively engaged and cause rotation of the sprocket 66 with the shaft 39. Upon rotation of the shaft 39 in a counterclockwise direction, the rollers 64 will merely roll over the interior surface of the casing 65 without providing any wedging action. Therefore the shaft 39 can turn freely while the sprocket 6|] remains stationary.

The clutch associated with the other end of the face conveyor I5 is arranged to operate in a reverse direction and this is effected by providing the notches 63 in reverse positions from that illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings, because whenever the shaft 39 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, the shaft 39 at the other end of the conveyor will also be operated in a clockwise direction. Therefore the clutch memshould be along the line H.

direction that its left-hand run as viewed in Fig. 1

will emerge from the face of the mine vein and therefore sweep the cuttings from the band of foreign material onto the conveyor l5. During such sumping operation the conveyor I5 should .be driven by the motor 3'! in such direction as to deliver the cuttings to the rib conveyor 4|. Such direction of operation of the conveyor I5 is maintained during arcuate feeding movement of the kerf cutter |4 toward the other rib l3, and during the withdrawal rectilinear feeding movement from the face of the mine vein.

When it is desired to change conveying the cuttings to the other rib conveyor 4| the kerfcutting operations should start along the rib 13 and then the kerf cutter should be swung on the axis 12" of the turntable l2 in a clockwise direction, and the withdrawal feeding movement Previous to such operation of the mining machine kerf-cutting mechanism with the kerf cutter at adjusted elevation, the direction of travel of the cutter chain should be reversed and the bits set accordingly for such reversed travel. The object of the reversal of operation of the chain cutter is to secure emergence of the cutter bits on the advancing edge of the cutter bar to facilitate sweeping of the cuttings from a kerf as the latter is being extended.

Whetherthe kerf cutter I4 is being operated from the rib I2 toward the rib 13 or in reverse direction, and the cuttings fed either to the rib conveyor 4| or the rib conveyor 4|, the cuttings will be guided by the coal face chute or apron plate I8 into the arcuate trough Hi. It should be particularly noted that by reason of the reversal of the clutch members 62 at the opposite ends of the conveyor IS, the rib conveyor to which material is delivered, will be driven while the other rib conveyor remains idle. That is to say, upon reversing the main arcuate conveyor l5 and by reversing the motor 31, the clutch mechanism illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 will be automatically operated to drive only that rib conveyor to which material is being delivered. When the gob of material formed by delivery of cuttings of foreign material thereto by one'of the rib conveyors becomes unduly large, the other rib conveyor may be automatically brought into operation by reversing the operation of the mining machine and reversing the operation of the main conveyor I5. When the bands of foreign material are relatively thin and the available gob space is relatively large, one of the rib conveyors may be sufficient,

but if the gob space is relatively limited or if the bands of foreign material in the mine vein are relatively thick, it is highly desirable to provide both of the rib conveyors 4| and 4|, as illustrated in Fig. 1. It is thus evident that a very effective system is provided as illustrated in the drawings, for automatically removing a band of foreign material from a coal vein and conveying it to gobs at the ribs Where it will in no way interfere with the mining of coal free from dirt, slate, or other foreign material.

The apparatus comprising my invention is also useful to remove coal cuttings, even where there are no dirt bands or bands of foreign material to be removed In many instances, the kerf cutter in operation produces large amounts of cuttings or slack which must be removed from the room face. The apparatus is useful to remove these cuttings automatically to a position removed from saidface. i

The structure of the arcuate face conveyor l5 per se is the subject of my divisional application Serial No. 243,810 for a Conveyor filed December 3, 1938. 7

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a mining system, the combination with a machine adapted to cut a kerf on an arcuate face in a mine room, of an arcuate conveyor positioned adjacent said faceto receive material cut out by said machine, rearwardly extending conveyors i adapted to convey material discharged from the ends of said arcuate conveyor, and automatic means for operating said arcuate conveyor and either one of said rearwardly extending conveyors dependent upon the direction of travel of the conveying means of said arcuate conveyor.

2. A mining system comprising a kerf-cutting machine adapted to cut a kerf across a face of a mine vein, of a face conveyor positioned below the cutter mechanism of the kerf cutting machine 4 and adjacent the mine face to receive the cuttings of said machine, said face conveyor com prising means constructed and arranged to convey material in reverse directions and discharge it, wing conveyors, one at each end of said face conveyor positioned to receive material from said face conveyor, and means constructed and'arranged to drive said wing conveyors from said face conveyor selectively and automatically depending upon which wing conveyor is receiving material from said face conveyor.

3. In a mining system, the combination with a machine adapted to cut a kerf on an arcuate face in a mine room, of an arcuate conveyor positioned adjacent said face to receive material cut out by said machine, rearwardly extending conveyors adapted to convey material discharged from the ends of said arcuate conveyor, and means for opcrating said arcuate conveyor to convey material to either of said rearwardly extending conveyors selectively and operating selectively only the rearwardly extending conveyor which is receiving said material.

l. A mining system comprising a kerf-cutting machine adapted to cut a kerf across a face of a mine vein, of a face conveyor positioned below the cutter mechanism of the kerf-cutting machine and adjacent the mine face to receive the cuttings of said machine, said face conveyor comprising means constructed and arranged to convey material in reverse directions and discharge it, rearwardly extending wing conveyors, one at each end of said face conveyor positioned to receive material from said face conveyor, and means constructed and arranged to drive said face conveyor and one of said wing conveyors selectively depending upon which wing conveyor is receiving material from said face conveyor.

NILS D. LEVIN. 

